Thursday, July 18, 2013

Spandex Is Great, Thanks.

I have written about spandex / lycra before on this blog, noting how crabby people some seem to get about it. Spandex just seems to be a magnet for comment and unless you are super fit and good looking, some measure of derision.

This, combined with a desire to look more normal off the bike (like at a restaurant or something) led to my purchase ofbaggy cycling shorts offering chamois liners. The best of both worlds, right? In most cases so far, yes. Most cases. The ones that don't involve crazy stupid mental hot weather like that being experienced by many right now.

In this kind of weather the chance of me "layering" below the waist is zero. Spandex/lycra cycling shorts allow the breeze to cool you as you ride, unlike just about any other garment I can think of other than a Speedo! Take that visual and put it in your special mind vault now, before it burns, and put spandex cycling shorts in its place. They're not so bad now, are they?

Thank God for my good old spandex shorts. They are making the commute bearable rather than just plain psycho.

I've worn full length corduroy trousers in 100 degree heat for 60 and 70 miles in one day - never had a problem. Right now, with the temperature in the 90s I favor military style over-the-knee cargo shorts (my everyday casual wear), and I go commando, so there's no lycra, no padding, just one layer of 100% cotton between my soft bits and my Brooks saddle. Maybe I just don't get all that sweaty down there, or maybe the fact that I do get a little sweaty just never felt uncomfortable to me. One thing is for sure - I've never got the chafing that many cyclists seem to complain about.

Given that I've never felt even a bit uncomfortable in the garments that many cyclists seem to equate to medieval torture devices, I don't see why I should spend $50 to $100 on a pair of shorts that do nothing for me except make me look like a cut-rate superhero or Mexican wrestler: shorts that are made from materials that trap odor, and that, by the way, cannot be made using any sustainable or environmentally friendly process or materials.

Not that I'm a big environmentalist, but hey, it's unsustainable crude oil vs. sustainable cotton. Since there's no advantage to me in wearing hi-tech plastic, I may as well stick with the material that can be grown in a field, spun, woven and stitched the old fashioned way. Cotton in summer, wool in winter - going all natural has always worked for me.